Landscape – Alexander S. Kunz Photography

Middle Basin Morning

2023/01/23

A sliver of warm morning sunlight falls onto the vast expansive of Middle Basin, with an ephemarl rivulet winding through the coarse desert landscape. Interesting cloud shapes hang over the snow-covered peaks of the Panamint Range. Death Valley National Park, California; January 2023.

After the sunrise at Zabriskie Point we went on to hike Desolation Canyon, which is just a short distance away. As mentioned in the previous post, clouds began to move in quickly. We drove down from Zabriskie Point, made our left turn from CA-190 onto Badwater Road, and wow! A beautiful stripe of warm morning light illuminated the landscape.

Sunrise at Zabriskie Point

2023/01/222023/01/22

Morning light begins to illuminate Manly Beacon and the badlands; two hikers have made their way up onto a ridge in the hills (center left). Photographed from Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California; January 2023.

It’s in the visitor guide for Death Valley National Park: Zabriskie Point is “a spectacular spot for sunrise” — one really does have to experience it at least once… even if it means pretty much guaranteed crowds on the Sunday morning of a long weekend. :)

Lava Hill, Death Valley

2023/01/202023/01/20

Volcanic rocks diagonally sticking out of the ground; Death Valley National Park, California; January 2023.

I’m trying to keep up the pace with my blogging in a more documentary and trip-report style and this is the second entry from our recent Death Valley trip.

Rain In The Desert

2023/01/18

Southern Panamint Valley in rain, seen from Slate Range Crossing along Trona Wildrose Road, California; January 2023.

We spent the long weekend in Death Valley to get out of the house just for a little bit. This time, we had a reservation at Stovepipe Wells and drove via Ridgecrest, where we stopped for lunch*, and then continued via the Searles Valley and Trona into the Panamint Valley.

Desert Delights: Sand Verbana Carpets

2023/01/272022/12/24

A magenta carpet of Sand Verbena (Abronia villosa) spreads on sandy desert soil in Southern California after plentiful summer monsoon rains led to early germination. Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California; December 2022.

It’s Christmas Eve and at least when it comes to the weather, we’re not really feeling it here in Southern California — a brief warm-up period over the weekend will be followed by (hopefully) some rain, next week.

Fossil Canyon Impressions

2022/12/19

Fresh green annuals, hardy shrubs and a Velvet Mallow (Horsfordia newberryii) in a bed of rocks, contained by the sandstone walls of Fossil Canyon, Coyote Mountains Wilderness, California; December 2022.

It’s always a struggle to also do the documentary aspects of photography justice, or perhaps trying to balance honest images with photographic twilight dreamscapes isn’t really possible anyway. My recent desert landscape photos, my ode to clear skies and the reflected twilight glow, the intimate little details in soft and even light, flower and plant close-ups shaded with a diffuser… they are a bit misleading.